Oracle

Administrative and Religious Center of Greece

Delphi, the “Navel of the Earth“, the “Common Hearth of all the Greeks“, was the most sacred site of Ancient Greece. The Antiquities curator B. Pentzatos and the Supervisor M. Sarla describe the site of Delphi using these words.Apollo came to Delphi together with the Doric tribes and as a patriarchal god he pushed aside the matriarchal deities worshiped there.
From the archaeological digs we conclude that the Myceneans had settled in this very place and that the Oracle of Gaia flourished up until 1100B.C. It is from there that the “Descend of the Dorians” begins which shakes Greece, and finalizes the conquest of Delphi by Apollo.
The myth which concerns Apollo and is in accordance with the archaeological findings is in summary as follows: Apollo, who is the son of Zeus and Leto, a celestial god, kills Python, who, as a child of Gaia is a chthonic god. But, because of the blood relation of Apollo with Zeus and of Zeus with Gaia, Apollo does not celebrate his victory, but in order to be purified, he leaves the Oracle, going to Thessaly as a slave for 7 years and he returns to Delphi as a dominant god. But yet again, every year for three months he goes to the Hyperborean countries for purification, leaving Dionysus in his place.

image 05 – Constellation of Hydra, Corvus and Crater

The constellation of Crater (Dionysus) was linked to the constellation of the Corvus (Apollo), through the constellation of Hydra (image 05); all three constellations are visible from Greece. Part of Hydra is visible in the picture and it extends behind the Parthenon, towards the zodiac of Cancer. This way Hydra has a length, and starts from the zodiac of Cancer, crosses through the zodiac of Leo and reaches the zodiac of Virgo. Namely it remains in the sky during the months July – August – September, therefore during the whole summer.

The Corvus (crow), which was a bird dedicated to the worship of Apollo, was sent by the god to spy on the nymph Aegle, who, because of her beauty, was called Koronida (crow) and was unfaithful, because she was afraid that Apollo, with whom she had given birth to Asclepius, would abandon her. Therefore the clergy at some point created the relationship of the constellations of Hydra and Raven. Later on with the emergence of Dionysus they created the relation of the constellations of the Hydra, Corvus and Crater, and Aegle became one of the Nymphs of Dionysus.
All that we have described, proves the connection of the celestial dome with the archaeological site of Delphi through astrological and astronomical processes, which also indicate the intellectual level of the clergy.Dionysus was the link who connected the chthonic gods with Apollo, who was the interpreter of the orders sent by the celestial gods using Hermes as a messenger. This relationship of Apollo and Dionysus essentially represents “man” as thought (Apollo) and as passion (Dionysus), which converge or diverge depending on the social choice of men. Thus, the form of Dionysus will change respectively from good looking to repulsive.

Temple of Apollo

The relationship between Dionysus and Apollo is reflected on the pediments of the 4th century B.C. temple, which was completed in 330 B.C. and is the sixth consecutive one that replaced the previous archaic one which was destroyed by earthquakes (373 B.C.). Pausanias mentions that in the eastern pediment the arrival (“Epiphany”) of Apollo in Delphi was depicted, as it was also the case in the previous one which was destroyed. On the western pediment Dionysus was depicted together with the Maenads. Architects of the temple were Spintharus of Corinth and later on Xenodorus (restorations). The sculptures were created by Praxias and Androsthenes.

The temple possesses a technically illogical deviation to the North, which however can be explained by the eastern pediment of the temple, which shows the region of the Hyperborean people where Apollo comes from to the temple, namely the Cimmerian people (Ukraine). The deviation from the original positioning of the temple was assumed between 545 and 500 B.C. when the fifth consecutive temple of the Alcmaeonidae (above image III) was built with the archaic dimensions, identical to the previous one (6×15), with the code K. (6) (1) (5) (6) (3), namely according to the Pythagorean interpretation:

In the same site of Delphi there is also the temple of another apocalyptic god, Asclepius, a short distance down from the temple of Apollo (exact location here). This god restores man to a healthy condition and has the ability to raise the dead. Therefore, only the apocalyptic gods were gathered in Delphi (Apollo, Dionysus and Asclepius), who replaced the chthonic matriarchal deities; besides, Delphi is mentioned in the Iliad as the oracle of Peitho. These three gods will also constitute the logical basis for the christian worship, because Jesus covers their basic properties; namely he is born, dies and is reborn, like Apollo (Sun) and Dionysus, he has connections to the celestial space like Apollo and with the chthonic space like Dionysus, he even resurrects the dead like Asclepius.
These new gods upgraded logically since 1100 B.C. the Greek worship, extending human life with the concept of future rebirth through reincarnation. This also indicates the logic of the prevalence of the new worship, without religious wars. Thus the deceased, while in older times had his head turned to the north and his face to the west (Necromanteion), now the face turns to the east (Delos) waiting for rebirth like the Sun with the help of Apollo, Dionysus and Asclepius.

Route of the Soul

On the upper part of the above picture (Route of the Soul), we observe the relationship between Apollo and Dionysus, where the commands of the celestial gods are transmitted to Apollo, who in turn transmits them to Dionysus and he passes them to the chthonic gods. The soul, with the aid of Hermes is headed west to the Necromanteion in order to be judged.
This logic of man, namely the desire to extend his life or to be reborn, is valid even to this day. Modern day society tries with the technological means at its disposal to defeat old age and death. This logic however has its infrastructure deeply rooted in the Ancient civilization. So from reincarnation it transitioned to resurrection during the christian period. Otherwise it is very doubtful if modern day society would experiment for the extension (Rebirth) of human life. So then, issues that for us nowadays are self explanatory, have undergone a time spanning process.
With the upgrade of the cult, although Delphi replaces the chthonic gods with the apocalyptic ones, it does not abolish them; thus the oracle becomes a Geo-Solar center. Later on during the reign of emperor Augustus and his Apollonian religious policy, the oracle of Delphi will become a Solar center.
We observe then, that the religious reforms are localized in Delphi, the other religious centers are either funded or abolished. Therefore it is Delphi and the clergy that process the worship. Moreover it is from this oracle that everyone both within and outside of Greece seeks guidance for social and political issues. It is the source of information for the city-states concerning colonization, with an “Ambiguous Oracle” when the interests of the city-states were clashing.